Amish people live rural lives and want their children to be taught in their own schools. These are one-room schools, in which the children of the community are educated through grade eight by a teacher who is usually an unmarried young woman who had an eighth-grade education herself. She teaches the children a bit of history, languages, geography, arithmetic, and science, with the objective of having the children fit into the Amish community and also able to deal effectively with the outside culture surrounding them. The schools are heated by wood and have outhouses. There is usually a swing set and perhaps another piece of playground equipment. This is how much of America was educated 150 years ago, but it is rare outside of Amish communities today.

I took this picture on a winter day, and particularly liked the shadow of the cupola that contains the school’s bell. It is wonderful to drive by and briefly observe the children playing at recess–the boys in their winter hats and girls in their bonnets, perhaps having a snowball fight.

SIZE: This photograph is printed at an approximate final size of a bit over 6x6,” and is printed on cotton rag photographic paper using pigmented inks for an estimated 400-year display life.

LIMITED EDITION: This photographic print is part of a limited edition produced by photographer Lee Rentz. The edition consists of 250 prints, which includes all sizes and methods of printing.